Can't think, don't ask

The downside of having a blog and waiting too long to post is that there is at once nothing to say and everything to say.

After my last post, I received a lot of comments agreeing that knitting does, indeed, bring young and not so young together. In the meantime, one of my friends has had to rip out and restart her clapotis, aided by wine and chocolate. It was the yarn's fault. Really.

I was with her when she bought this particular yarn. In fact, I bought some, too. Our big mistake, she thinks and I agree, is buying yarn from a non knitter. What were we thinking?

The yarn in question is some beautiful, handspun alpaca. The trouble came from not knowing exactly how much was in the hank (actually two of them) and just sorta taking the sellers word for the yardage. Dumb, dumb, dumb. We bought the yarn at Kid n Ewe and Llamas, too, a show that takes place every November in Boerne, Tx. This yarn was being sold by someone who worked at an alpaca farm (ranch?) and she really didn't know anything about fiber or knitting. Oh, but it was so beautiful. Anyway, it became obvious that there wasn't going to be enough yarn to finish the shawl so my friend ripped and restarted, this time intending to make it narrower. I suggested she go up a needle size and very carefully weighed the yarn. I figured out where she would be when a third of the yarn was used and she took off from there. Fingers are crossed and candles are lit. I do have a picture but don't have the energy to download it right now. Next time, promise.

I am sick. I've been to three doctors now and have no diagnosis. I had a CT scan on Wednesday and should get the results Friday. I've been through three antibiotics and a round a steroids. The problem: extreme pressure in both of my ears and swollen lymph glands. Yesterday's Dr., an ENT doc, took Xrays, ear pressure, and ordered the CT scan. She also gave me a shot with a cocktail mixture of steroid and what is now my fourth antibiotic since October 31.

The ear pressure test showed that my ear drums are flat, no vibration happening at all and my already precarious hearing is getting worse. Oh, let me remind you what I do for a living ~ teach piano.

I am judging a piano competition on Saturday and am praying for a miraculous recovery by then. If I'm still feeling like I do now, it's going to be a long day. Ironically, my judging partner is one of my old teachers from over 30 years ago. He's wonderful and a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to spending the day with him, sick or not. At least I'm not contagious.